Coin controlled dispenser for bulk vendors



Aug. 21, 195-1 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Th 07a 7 672 1?. ,5)? owijz'eZci Ch N ATTE! RNEYS Aug. 21, 1951 11-5. SNOWFIELD COIN CONTROLLED DISPENSER FOR BULK VENDORS Filed Oct. 2; 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2- ATTD R N EYS Patented Aug. 21 1951 'QQJYTROL'LED DISPENSER FOR BULK VEN ORS Thai-Mil 1B,; Snowfield, cavalier, N. oak.

hpn lca-tionoctober 2, 1941, Serial No. 777,384

2 Claims.

bubble gum, popcorn or similar articles of various,

shapes and sizes. The inventioninvolves a comp t ar d nd ng a hine of themes zine type having a reliable andvaccuratel-y operating feeding mechanism 10.1 discharging. asingle article or several articles or pieces in regulated portions from the top of the supply until the final article or package or portion is dispensed, after. which, of course, the supply, .in bulk, isreplenished in the magazine.

The invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts that may be manufactured with facility at low cost of production, and the parts assembled with convenience toassure a quickacting and smooth operating machine that may be manipulated with a minimum of labor, as will hereinafter be described in detail and more particularly set forth in the appended; claims.

In the accompanying d-rawings I have illustrated a complete example of a physicai embodiment of my invention in which the parts are combined and arranged in accord with-onemode I have thus far devised forv the practical application of the principles of my invention. It will, however be understood'that changes and alterations are contemplated and may be made in these exemplifying drawings and mechanical structures, within the scope of my claims, without ,departing from the principles o'f the i'nvention.

Figure 1 is a vertical sectionaljview of a vending machine in which my invention is embodied.

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical sectionalview as at line 2-2 of Fig. l; and Figure 3 isa similar view at line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is an enlargeddetail vertical sectional view showing the receiver portion of the discharge chute and the carrier, as at line Q' l of Fig. 1; and Figure 5 is a similar vlewat'jlinei-r-5 of Fig. 4.

Figure 6 is a detail view, enlar'g' djshowing the latch or look for the chute caretaker; at lineB-G of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged'detail'vertical sectional view, similar to Fig. 4, showingthe'receiver portion of the discharge chute-but jwitli'the gate and carrier block in their elevated positions.

Fig. 8 is a similar View ta Fig. 7.

tion of the interior of the cabinet.

.In the preferred form of the invention shown in the drawings I utilize a rectangular, upright,

cabinet I of suitable metal or material that is provided with a lid or cover 2 hinged at 3 for ready. access to the interior of the cabinet for filling the interior magazine or bin with the supply of material, or articles to be vended, and a glass panel 4 provides a front window for inspec- After the supply of packages, or packaged articles or loose bulk articles has been emptied into the cabinet, the top door may be looked as at L in Figure l; and the cabinet is properly supported in position for ready use by a purchaser of the goods or articles.

Within the cabinet, an inclined or sloping bottom 5 is fixed at a slight elevation above the bottom of the cabinet to provide a bin or magazine for the packages or packaged goods or loose bulk articles such as peanuts, candy, and popcorn, and an upright dispensing chute 6 passes through a slot in the horizontal plate 1 of the bottom of the bin. The upper end of the chute forms a receiver for the discharged packages or portionof loose bulk articles, and the lower end of the chute is .fashioned with an inclined leg 8 that forms the delivery spout opening to the exterior of the cabinet, as indicated in Figure 3 and adapted to deliver a package or portion into the waiting hand of a customer.

For feeding the packages or portions, step by step, upwardly to the open top or receiver of the chute, a multi-bar elevating frame is employed, which is reciprocable in a vertical plane and, as here shown, consists of five elevators or ejectors that are designed to lift the packages or portions from the bulk in the bin and finally discharge them into the receiver or upper end of the chute. The vertically moving elevator or m'ulti-bar frame is made up of a number of ejectors or lifting bars as 9, Ill, ll, [2, and a discharge bar 13, of varying length or height, to provide a stepped arrangement in the elevator. Therefore, the supply of packages or loose bulk articles or pieces such as peanuts, candy, or popcorn in the bin is gradually diminished by the packages or loose bulk articles or pieces being successively lifted from the bulk and discharged by the bar [3 into the receiving end or upper end of the chute.

These bars are each provided with a slanting, sloping or diagonally arranged head [4, and as seen in Figure 1, the heads are arranged in parallel planes with the head of the discharge bar sloping downwardly to the top of the chute when the-elevator is in the raised position of Figure 1.

The laterally spaced bars are rigidly united for simultaneous reciprocating movement when the operating mechanism is manipulated, and the bars are tied together by means of a horizontal brace I5 and screws I6, and the elevator is manually operated through the instrumentality of a crank arm I! pivoted at I8 to one of the bars, as shown in Figure l.

The crank arm extends downwardly through a slot in the horizontal bottom of the bin and its lower end is connected at I9 to a crank 20 of a horizontally extending shaft 2| journalled in bearings of the cabinet. The shaft passes through a coin control box 22 mounted on the outer front face of the cabinet in which a conventional control mechanism is enclosed, and the shaft may be rotated manually by grasping and turning the handle 23 of the shaft.

In its reciprocatin movement, the multi-bar elevator is confined and guided by means of a fixed frame consisting of fixed and spaced uprights 24, each having an inclined or sloping head I4 similar in all respects to the head I4 of the bars. The heads I4 are positioned in planes parallel with the planes of the elevator heads l4, and uprights 24 also vary in length or height to provide a step by step arrangement of the guide frame complementary to the arrangement of the elevator.

The spaced frame bars or uprights are secured, as by screws 25 to an L-shaped base frame 2i: that is fastened to the bottom of the cabinet by screws as 21, and two pairs of spaced upright guide plates 28 and 29, the former attached to the chute and the latter attached to a side wall of the cabinet, maintain the elevator in proper position as it reciprocates.

The receiver or upper open end of the chute 6 is initially closed by an automatically lifted or opened gate 30 in the form of a horizontally disposed grid that is equipped with an actuating pin 3 I, and the gate is raised and lowered through the vertical movement of a carrier block 32 that ismounted to reciprocate in the upper receiving end of the chute. For this purpose the carrier block is provided with a horizontally projecting pin 33 that rigidly fastens the carrier block to the discharge ejector or elevating bar I3 of the elevator, and the side wall of the chute is slotted at 34 to permit travel of the pin.

The carrier block is equipped with a pair of upright slotted arms 35 and 36 having offset slots 31 through which the gate-pin 3| passes, and as the elevator and carrier block are lifted by turning the handle 23, these slotted arms first slide upwardly over the gate-pin until the walls of the offset slots engage the pin to move it laterally and release the pin from a pair of bayonet slots 38 (Fig. 6) that merge with upright 'slots 39 in the opposite walls of the receiver. In this manner the gate is released, and continued upward movement of the carrier block lifts the gate to the positions in Figures '7 and 8, to permit discharge of a package or regulated portion of loose bulk articles into the receiver or upper end of the chute.

The vertically reciprocable carrier block 32 controls and governs the feed of a single package or a portion of loose bulk articles from the receiver to the lower portion of the chute, for a gravity feed and delivery through the inclined leg of the chute, and for this pupose, the chute is fashioned with a by-pass hood 40 having an upper inlet port 4| from the interior of the chute and a lower outlet port 42 into the chute for the 4 accommodation of a single package or regulated portion of loose bulk articles.

When the carrier block 32 moves upwardly, it closes the port 4I before the gate 30 starts its upward movement. Thus the gate 30 does not start upwardly until after the port M is closed. When the gate 30 is completely open, the discharge bar. I3 willdeliver the package or portion into the receiver or upper end of the chute 6. After delivery of the package or portion to the chute 6, the gate 30 will close. When the gate is completely closed, the carrier block 32 will have 'moved downwardly sufficiently to open port 4|. "The package or articles will then be delivered by gravity through the hood 4|] to the port 42. The package or portion will fall through the hood 4|] at a greater rate of descent than that of the carrier block'32. Thus the package or portion will be delivered from the port 42 before the block has fully descended into position to close the port 42.

The carrier 32 is provided with a sloping or declining head I4 that is designed to give momentum to the package as it is delivered through port 4| as the carrier descends. Thus the package falls by-gravity through the hood and thence through port 42 into the chute below the carrier, as previously described. The hood 48 covering the ports 4| and 42, provides a barrier which prevents probing with a wire or similar means into the chute B to obtain the articles therefrom Without the use of a coin.

To prevent the-cabinet from fraudulent feeding of packages or portions into the receiver, as by tilting the cabinet, the inner side of the cover or hinged lid 2 is provided with a fixed frame 43 in which three panels, as 44, are hinged at 45, and these panels or guards depend over the upper end-of the chute, as indicated best in Figure 4, to prevent ingress of packages in this manner to the receiver.

The panels or guards 44 cannot swing upwardly past the top of the open end of the chute 6. The panels or guards 44 thus prevent the ingress of loose bulk from the supply bin into the chute when the machine is tipped or tilted. The panels or guards 44 being easily pivoted outwardly away from the chute, will prevent too great a supply of the bulk material from being vended, since the excess will flow over the upper-end of the chute, moving the panels or guards 44 outwardly, so that the excess will return to the bulk bin. Thus the panels or guards 44 perform a dual function, prevent fraudulent use of the machine and prevent excess delivery of the material in the machine.

It is believed that from the foregoing, the operation and construction of the machine will I be apparent to those skilled in the art, and as previously pointed out, changes may be made in the structure, provided such changes fall within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus fully/described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In'a' vending machine, the combination with a chute having a bypass hood with vertically spaced inlet and outlet ports, said chute including a receiver above the hood, and feeding mechanism for-discharging bulk articles to the receiverf'a vertically reciprocable carrier block located inthechute-and operative connections therefore with the feeding mechanism so that said block is reciprocated to alternately close and open said ports, a vertically movable gate mounted in the receiver, and means actuated by the carrier block for lifting the gate so that the bulk articles can pass from the feeder through the open gate and the receiver into the chute to come to rest on the carrier block during the upward movement of the carrier block and so that the articles will pass through the upper port and out of the lower port into the chute below the block when the carrier block moves downward and uncovers the upper port.

2. In a vending machine, the combination with an upright gravity-discharge chute having a bypass hood provided with a pair of vertically disposed ports and a receiver above the hood, and feeding mechanism for discharging bulk articles into the receiver, a vertically reciprocable carrier block mounted in the chute for controlling the ported hood for alternately opening and closing the ports therein, co-acting means between the feeding mechanism and block for actuating the latter, a vertically movable gate located in the receiver and means for latching 6 the gate, and means rigid with the carrier block for releasing the latched gate and lifting the gate to opened position so that the bulk articles can pass from the feeder through the open gate and the receiver into the chute to come to rest on the carrier block during the upward movement of the carrier block and so that the articles will pass through the upper port and out of the lower port into the chute below the block when the carrier block moves downward and uncovers the upper port.

THORARIN B. SNOWFIELD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,696,803 Kronquist Dec. 25, 1928 1,992,331 Smith Feb. 26, 1935 2,325,203 Hayes July 27, 1943 

